Huntsville Forester

BURK’S FALLS – The Township of Ryerson has set a deadline for submission in respect to a controversial quarry proposal on Pegg’s Mountain Road.

Ryerson council has set a Sept. 7 cut-off date to receive submissions regarding the re-zoning application.

The rezoning, if passed, would allow 50 of the 80 hectares of property owned by Glenn Thompson to become a pit and quarry.

Reeve Glenn Miller says they needed to set a deadline so they could move forward with their decision.

“We will take all those under advisement,” he said.

The next steps for council are to begin the process of commissioning second opinions, including a roads study.

On July 25 a public meeting was held at the arena in Burk’s Falls for council to hear both sides of the debate. The meeting room upstairs was packed full of people, many of them expressing concern over potential ramifications if approved.

However, this is not the first time that the quarry proposal has come before council. It was initially proposed in the fall of 2010. Council turned the application down at that time, stating there was not enough information and the matter headed to the Ontario Municipal Board. The applicant later withdrew the appeal.

During the July 25 meeting, Trudy Patterson, senior planner at Skelton Brumwell and Associates Inc., who represented Thompson, the owner of the proposed quarry property, highlighted changes to the application since it was initially proposed as part of a rezoning application to the Ministry of Natural Resources under the Aggregate Resources Act.

According to municipal planning consultant Rick Hunter of Planscapes, council has until October to make a decision.